Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Benchmark

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) was upgraded by analysts at Benchmark to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on BPOP. Zacks Research lowered Popular from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Popular from $172.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup increased their price objective on Popular from $178.00 to $188.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Popular from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on Popular from $173.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $177.83.

Popular Price Performance

Shares of BPOP opened at $171.01 on Wednesday. Popular has a one year low of $108.74 and a one year high of $171.98. The company has a 50-day moving average of $157.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $143.89. The stock has a market cap of $11.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.61.

Popular (NASDAQ:BPOP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The bank reported $3.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.30 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $816.08 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $866.54 million. Popular had a net margin of 20.10% and a return on equity of 14.53%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.56 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Popular will post 15.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Popular news, Director Alejandro M. Ballester sold 23,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $3,450,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 34,588 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,188,200. The trade was a 39.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Cristin Gonzalez-Noguera sold 6,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.51, for a total transaction of $920,762.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,255 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,671,480.05. This represents a 35.52% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 29,500 shares of company stock valued at $4,415,870. Company insiders own 2.13% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Popular

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BPOP. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Popular by 56.2% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,962,871 shares of the bank’s stock worth $376,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065,452 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Popular in the fourth quarter valued at about $104,955,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Popular by 85.2% during the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 680,282 shares of the bank’s stock worth $84,709,000 after buying an additional 312,984 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Popular by 2,752.6% during the third quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 312,447 shares of the bank’s stock worth $39,684,000 after buying an additional 301,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Popular by 12,382.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 258,517 shares of the bank’s stock valued at $32,191,000 after acquiring an additional 256,446 shares during the period. 87.27% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Popular

Popular, Inc, headquartered in San Juan, Puerto Rico, is a financial holding company and a leading provider of banking services in the United States mainland and Puerto Rico. Through its primary subsidiaries—Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Popular Bank—the company delivers comprehensive commercial and consumer banking solutions. It offers deposit products, lending facilities, cash management services and payment-processing solutions designed for individuals, small businesses and large corporations.

The company’s product suite encompasses checking and savings accounts, certificates of deposit, residential and commercial mortgage loans, business lines of credit and credit cards.